SUPPORTING AND ADVANCING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

WHEREAS, the strength and resilience of the country is increasingly at risk
as our cities and communities face rising threats from extreme weather, natural
disasters, and energy volatility, potentially jeopardizing continued prosperity
and security; and

WHEREAS, extreme weather has hit every region in the U.S. last year; and

WHEREAS, four out of five Americans live in counties that were hit by at
least one federally declared weather-related disaster in the last six years;
and

WHEREAS, the country has endured a record number of extreme weather events
fueled by a changing climate – heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, flooding –
that cost the country an estimated $188 billion in 2011–2012; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. has seen 130 separate billion-dollar-plus disasters in
the past 30 years, including 14 in 2011 and 11 in 2012; and

WHEREAS, Hurricane Sandy led to more than 100 deaths and is projected to
have caused more than $70 billion in damages, and shut off power to an
estimated 7.5 million people; and

WHEREAS, Hurricane Katrina led to more than 1,800 deaths and more than $80
billion in losses and a subsequent $120 billion in federal recovery spending;
and

WHEREAS, disadvantaged communities are often the most vulnerable to the
adverse effects of extreme weather and the least equipped to recover quickly;
and

WHEREAS, while more extreme weather stresses our communities, our aging
infrastructure continues to suffer from neglect and underfunding, so much so
that the American Society of Civil Engineers has twice given the country’s
infrastructure a “D” grade, in 2009 and 2013, across 16 critical sectors, and
revealing that the country faces a $1.6 trillion gap in necessary
infrastructure investment; and

WHEREAS, local communities are vulnerable to energy disruptions due to an
aging and unreliable power grid, and harmed by volatile energy prices and
dependence on foreign energy; and

WHEREAS, the country needs more resilient communities, able to endure and
overcome these climate change, energy, and economic challenges; and

WHEREAS, taking action now will help save lives and increase preparedness
to destructive climate change impacts, expand energy independence, strengthen
local economies, and save energy and money; and

WHEREAS, for every $1 spent now on disaster preparedness and resilience-building,
the country can avoid at least $4 in future losses; and

WHEREAS, American innovations are improving local energy resilience and
energy independence, including cost-competitive solar installations, local
energy efficiency programs, and smart grid and micro-grid technologies; and

WHEREAS, as cities work to chart their own road to resilience, they can
benefit from existing tools, resources, and efforts, such as the Resilient
Communities for America campaign; and

WHEREAS, with the right tools and support, mayors can lead on the
solutions to build stronger, more resilient communities that can sustainably
prosper for generations to come,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED that The United States
Conference of Mayors will support efforts by communities across the nation to
advance sound resiliency policies and programs that (1) identify and plan for
the risk and challenges posed by a changing climate, (2) deploy a skilled
workforce to modernize critical infrastructure in the energy, communications,
buildings, water, and transportation sectors, (3) strengthen the community as a
whole to be a safer, healthier place to live, and (4) when these tragic
disaster events do occur, support efforts that help communities prepare,
mitigate, respond, and recover in a smarter and greener way; and

BE IT
FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States
Conference of Mayors urges Congress to support federal efforts that will help
states and localities develop and implement resiliency action plans and help
identify innovative financing opportunities to implement these plans, and
reinstate and expand disaster mitigation grants which assist in disaster
preparedness and infrastructure improvements.